Five Star Seal: Breaking the Chain That is Love R
by seedofsorrows
Summary: Naruto lost control of the Kyuubi, and lost his sanity to a seal to restrain the beast, Ino lost her lover and fell into alcoholism. Can Ino break the bond that binds Naruto. Dark Naruto/Ino, revised edition
1. Chapter 1

Five Star Seals: Breaking the Chain That is Love

Chapter One

_Um, How do I begin to say this… I apologize for my absence. If you've read my profile update a few months ago, you know why, if not, it isn't extremely important… but it would tell you why I'm re-writing and revising this story_

_I figured that; for those who didn't read that update, I should tell you here to save the trip. I hated this story, I didn't put enough detail, and found myself going through it and cursing at all the holes and mistakes, so I decided to re-write all of it and finish it out before continuing on with the other stories, well, that's why I'm re-writing it anyway._

_At the moment I'm thinking about posting the story in 5 chapter intervals, to give you all a lot of reading material at one time; the only downfall is that there could be as much as three months of downtime between updates, so for safety I've decided to catalog day started and day finished._

_Started 9:45 PM 12/20/2010_

_Finished 1:52 AM 12/26/2010_

_The Naruto copyright is not mine, The one and only time I'll say it_

* * *

She tipped the glass and drained the remaining spirits, pausing to force down the burning sensation in her throat. She turned to the bartender with a devilish smile, to see him shaking his head. She sighed; this was the third time tonight that she would have to get up and find another place to take her money. She checked her watch, 11:30 PM, she had thirty minutes to hit the bottle before this nightmare would end and the 9th of November would arrive.

She grabbed her bag and walked shakily outside. She giggled, she was drunk, but not drunk enough if she could walk. She hailed a cab and gave him the address of a small bar in the Southern district that she only frequented this night every year, as she had done for the last four years.

He shook his head, but accepted her money and dropped her off, she thanked him and stepped inside. She smiled at the bartender and sat down.

* * *

1:55 AM November 9th…

Sakura enjoyed her walks down the Southern district boulevard after her night shifts at the hospital. Everyone said she was always so gung ho about everything in her life, well, these walks were her thinking time, not that she'd let anyone but Shino know that, and the only reason he knew was because she was sick of sneaking past him this early in the morning when he came to pick her up.

She sighed as she passed an old jewelry shop and a small theater that had been shut down. This part of the city was old, and slowly falling apart. She stopped at the alleyway beside the theater, in between it and an old bar that used to be owned by her friend Choji Akimichi's family, before he died and they sold to leave the village for a countryside tea shop in the Northern region of Fire Country.

A figure was lying by the alley door to the bar, a soft moan betrayed the identity of the woman, Ino Yamanaka, lying drunk at the foot of the steps.

"Ey Sak-ra… Wassup?" Ino hiccupped feebly. "Funny seein' you out here."

"Oh, Ino" Sakura sighed "You've drank too much again." she stooped down by her friend and gathered herself to lift the woman.

"You c'n never drink to mu-" Ino started before turning away from her friend and emptying her body of all the alcohol it couldn't handle.

Sakura sighed again. "Yes, you can. Are you all right?"

Ino heaved one last time, then turned to her friend and nodded. Grunting under the weight of her friend, Sakura began to make her way home.

* * *

Her apartment was a tiny duplex about three miles from the hospital. The garage was barely big enough to be called a garage, luckily Shino drove a motorcycle, because she would have been surprised if even the smallest compact could fit in it with room to open the doors. It was a one bedroom with a living room/ kitchen and a small bathroom. Her family said it was too small, but since she and Shino had put most of their money back for the child on the way, the newlyweds considered it a perfect fix, a least until the need for ninja picked up again.

The business of ninja is all about war and conflict; and due to her old teammate Naruto, most of both had been eradicated. The Sound Village hadn't resurfaced since Naruto had ran it's leader Orochimaru through with his own sword. Not long after, Naruto began hunting down the remaining members of the Akatsuki; an almost two year conquest that spanned the continent, in the end, the deed had been done and Naruto had returned home.

And about two years ago, Naruto vanished from her sight, as well as from everyone else's.

"Sak-ra, it's rully cold outside. C'n we go in?" Ino mumbled with her head drooping. She had somehow lost her coat the night before and was in her usual shinobi attire. Why she had to walk around in early November in fishnet and a short skirt Sakura had no clue, but it snapped her back into reality long enough to get her inside.

"Sorry Ino, I just got caught up daydreaming." Sakura apologized as she helped her friend out of her sandals.

"S'it about yur kid?" Ino asked, voice still slurred. Apparently, she had drunk enough that even a two and a half mile walk in the cold couldn't begin to sober her.

Sakura bit her lip, "A little of it, yes, Mother thinks that we should have put less money into the trust and bought a better place; but I don't want the risk of something happening to Shino and I, and not having enough to keep her alive."

Ino nodded. Even drunk, she was a shinobi, and as such she knew that her life could end at any time. "Ya did the right thung…Mama Har'no should know that."

Sakura gave Ino a smile, Sakura's parents were retired Chunin, they knew the risks their daughter took, as Sakura had reminded them many times in the past few months.

"Yea, but remember, Mother retired before I was born, and Papa retired when I made Genin." Sakura said quietly. "They believe that we only need one shinobi in the family, and they're happy to toss that all on Shino. They want me to retire."

Ino chuckled at that, "Sak'ra Har'no? Retire? Tha's the funnies' thing I've heard all night." she hiccupped, losing her balance. Sakura barely had time to catch her before she broke her neck.

Sakura smiled and began walking her friend to the couch, not an easy feat when Ino couldn't even stand by herself. She was relieved when she felt Shino step to the other side of Ino and relieve her of her burden.

"She can sleep in our room tonight." He said nonchalantly as he maneuvered Ino down the hall and into the bedroom. Sakura nodded as he gently laid Ino down on the bed.

They shut the door and walked back to the living room. Sakura made some tea, bringing two steaming cups into the living room, she handed Shino one before curling up next to him on the couch.

"The Akimichi Bar?" he asked.

"Yea, well, it's to be expected, it's the day he died, she does it every year." Sakura replied with a sigh.

"Hmm."

Sakura smiled; not many people had approved of her seeing Shino at first. They were polar opposites, he quiet and collected where she was brash and loud, he took his time where she hurried, but she knew that there was a soft heart in him somewhere, and it took her a while, but she found it, she prided herself on finding it. She had found what she had been looking for at last, after a couple bad turns with some of the others, including a horrible three weeks with Lee.

"And what does that mean?" she giggled

"It means I'm about ready to give that intervention guy a call, before her liver decides to beat the living shit out of her." He replied gruffly.

She snorted, humor was never one of Shino's strong points, but that one wasn't too bad. But instead of voicing that, she just said, "She doesn't need that much help."

"I know, but in four years, I've only seen her sober twice, and both times it was only because we were attending funerals." he stated.

"Kiba's and Choji's…yea, that's about it, maybe once or twice fighting with Inoichi as well." Sakura sighed, Ino's father had been just as devastated by Choji's death as Ino herself was, and it came out to be a father like daughter situation, Inoichi dived deeper into the bottle than he already was, and Ino was matching him cup for cup and shot for shot. Inoichi blamed himself for Choji, and had began to take it out on Ino. The two weren't talking, and Ino had packed her things and left, in the end, the only friends that had been able to take her in at the time had been Shikamaru and Temari, who had been living together since Naruto had returned from his crusade.

"Something needs to be done. I've been talking to Shikamaru; Temari doesn't like Ino living there anymore, Ino pulls her weight, mostly, but Temari can't stand watching her destroy herself anymore." he said, to anyone other than Sakura, his voice sounded as emotionless as ever, but she could detect the feeling of worry in it.

"Let's talk about it more in the morning." She said as she ran a finger across his cheek. "It was a long shift and I've got another one tomorrow, besides, it's been a while since we cuddled on the couch."

He smiled and took off his glasses, the warm look in his light brown eyes showing he liked the idea, she moved closer to him and burrowed herself deeper into the blanket he had set out. He shut off the lamp beside the couch and they slept.

* * *

Ino slept as well, but hers was a fitful sleep, plagued by memories that were her darkest nightmares, and she was pulled four years into the past.

_The missive Hinata carried in her pack was the mission, get that safely to Suna and return with the reply. Normally this sort of courier mission would only require one Jonin, this one required two full teams._

_This missive was a battle plan designed by the Hokage and the head of the Anbu, Naruto had only recently killed Orochimaru, but the Sound village was still fighting, they had taken hold of a large portion of the Fire country before his death, and unfortunately, their path lay through that territory._

_The missive had the location of all of Konoha's forces, as well as where Tsunade was going to station any reinforcements. It also had request for Suna ninja at the weak points. If any of that info fell into the hands of the Sound village, Konoha would be under siege before the change of the season. _

_Ino had point, with Shika on her right and Choji on the left. Behind Ino was Hinata, guarded closely by Shino. Kiba brought up the rear with Akimaru. Ino shifted her eyes to the right; Shikamaru was gazing lazily at the sky just beyond the foliage as he jumped from branch to branch. Good there, she shifted them to the right; Choji had a bag of chips out and slipped one into his mouth every few seconds, chewing slowly to savor each chip, but eyes always alert to his surroundings…one hundred percent there as well. They were halfway through enemy territory. A few more kilometers and they would be nearing the border to Wind country._

_She relaxed just a little. In a few days she would be home, and then a few weeks after that and she'd be wearing that beautiful white dress. Her eyes shifted back to the left, wondering if her large fiancé had the same thought._

_Her eyes caught the flash of metal moving at high speed and she brought a kunai up just in time to deflect the shuriken that would have buried itself in her throat._

"_Combat!" she yelled dropping back to take up a defensive stance by Hinata, who already had her Byakugan activated and was searching through the foliage restlessly. Shino threw up a cloud of bugs to circle above them. Shika had already begun stretching his shadow. All encircled Hinata in a defensive stance._

"_Kiba. How many, and who?" Shino whispered only a small shift of his eyebrows indicated that his eyes were roaming over the area in his line of vision. _

_Kiba and Akimaru began sniffing, turning their head to one side and then the other. Kiba's eyes suddenly popped open and Akimaru began growling angrily. He snarled one word. "Sasuke."_

_Ino gripped her kunai so hard her knuckles turned white. This wasn't what she needed, not now. "Any others?"_

_Kiba shook his head. A sinister chuckling began resonating from everywhere around them. The ninja settled deeper into their stances and gripped their weapons harder. _

_Sasuke had openly declared himself the new leader of the Sound village, and had fought with Suna and Konoha as much, or more vehemently than Orochimaru had, proving himself to be an even more brilliant schemer and strategist, as well as a better fighter. He was the worst of all of Konoha's rogue ninja, surpassing his brother in both casualties and crimes._

_The sinister chuckle turned to a hissing taunt. "Look at all of you Leaf ninja, shaking in your boots. I bet it must be terrifying to know that your life, along with those around you, will end here." Sasuke taunted, his voice echoing through the trees._

"_Show yourself Sasuke, and we will show you why your village should fear Konoha." Ino Said, trying to keep her voice level._

_I've been right here the whole time." Came Sasuke's voice beside her._

_Instantly the group scattered, Shino's bugs wove a cocoon of their bodies around Hinata, effectively keeping the missive and the konoichi from harm. Sasuke stood on the branch, calmly waiting for the ninja to compose themselves and face their enemy._

"_Now, now, Shino," He began, "Release your bugs so Hinata can give me that missive. You know as well as I do that if I get hold of that, the war between our villages will be over." Sasuke had turned his voice sweet, like honey covered poison._

"_The war will only end your way if every single living being in Konoha is eradicated." Shino said gruffly, raising a kunai. "I'm prepared to kill you to stop that."_

"_Ah, I'm beginning to realize why I enjoy being in conflict with Konoha, not only do I get to enjoy tearing you apart; but I also get to enjoy every little step I make towards THE KILL!" Sasuke shouted as he lunged toward Shino._

_Before Sasuke could make it to him, Kiba and Akimaru shot forward, attacking him from both sides. He slipped under Akimaru, then spun and brought up the handle of his sword, the pommel connected with Kiba's face with force enough to send the ninja spiraling backward._

_Akimaru growled and lunged at Sasuke again. Sasuke nimbly dodged to the side and slammed his sheath into the massive dog's ches. Akimaru let out a pained whine and collapsed._

"_Pathetic." Sasuke sighed, he slid the blade out of its sheath in a graceful arc before pointing it straight at Shikamaru. "Your turn to show me what you can do. I hope it's better than the mindless dog I just put down."_

_Shikamaru smirked and formed the rat seal, only to see a swirl of leaves where Sasuke had been, he cursed and swung around and threw up his arm to block the axe kick Sasuke had let loose, but the moment he brought up his arm Sasuke changed his position midair to deliver a crushing blow to the stomach. Shikamaru was sent backward._

_Shikamaru was still flying back when Sasuke landed, reaching into his kimono and flinging a few kunai in Shika's direction. Shikamaru winced and threw his arms over his face and torso; letting the knives pierce deep into his arms._

_Sasuke chuckled and spun around to deflect a kick to the head by an angry Kiba. Sasuke ducked under him and laid the sheath of his sword across Kiba's back. Kiba dropped face first, struggling to get up. Sasuke lifted his sword to plunge it into the injured man's back, only to feel his hand caught in the mouth of a giant ninja dog. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the dog ._

"_Aki…maru…" he began as Akimaru began growling; he brought his other hand to his side. "BAD DOG!" he roared as his fist came upwards across his chest and into the dogs jaw._

_Akimaru released Sasuke and staggered dumbfounded before Sasuke's heel made contact with his temple, and then he dropped like a sack of grain. Kiba roared and charged at the sound ninja, swinging for all he was worth, but never managing to hit the bastard._

_Sasuke smirked as Kiba's temper began taking the best of him, he began attacking wildly, leaving himself open, and every time, Sasuke's sword would flash, and Kiba would be bleeding from yet another cut._

_To the two ninja locked in combat, time seemed to slow, and that one battle seemed to go on forever, but less than thirty seconds after Kiba began attacking, he was on his knees, dizzy from blood loss. A sharp pain sprung from the top of his head when Sasuke buried the pommel into it._

_To Kiba, there was a blinding flash of white light, and then he slipped into unconsciousness._

_Sasuke turned when he heard a deafening roar accompanied by a large shape blocking the sun behind him._

"_PARTIAL EXPANSION JUTSU!" Roared Choji as his right arm became larger than a bus. He brought it forward at blinding speed; aimed straight at Sasuke, who stood as if bored. _

_As the fist closed in he began to chuckle, his Sharingan activated and he brought his sword up in front of his face. "Chidori Nagashi." he muttered, and his sword began chirping and humming with a surge of chakra conceived electricity._

_Ino didn't stop to think. Shino HAD to guard Hinata, she couldn't last very long against Sasuke's Sharingan, even with her own dojutsu and taijutsu style. So she had to help Choji drive off that bastard. Maybe with the two of them, they would succeed where everyone else had failed singly._

_She rushed in with a kunai, distracting Sasuke from the oncoming mammoth-sized fist. She was about twenty feet away when she flicked her wrist and sent the kunai whistling towards his shoulder, he brought his sword up to deflect and launched a bolt of electricity at her. Ino ducked and just barely managed to dodge it and keep up her course, barreling toward the Sound ninja, her hand went to her pouch and suddenly there was a dozen shuriken heading in the same direction she was, all launched within a second, flying at different heights and trajectories._

_Sasuke smirked, his sword became a blur of motion. The kunai fell harmlessly at his feet. "Foolish little bitch." he growled and launched himself in her direction._

_Suddenly, it was all taijutsu. She was no expert, but over the last few years; being friends with Hinata and Sakura, whose taijutsu skills were their only battle worthy ninja arts, she had trained with them and had become proficient enough at it to contend with a Hyuuga for a short amount of time._

_But the moment she blocked Sasuke's first punch, she knew she was outmatched. He anticipated her every move, those red eyes flickering dangerously as he used it to pinpoint her every flaw and weakness in her form._

_She was immediately on the defense, and Choji was still barreling towards them wielding his oversize arm like a club, his fingers as long as Ino was tall. Sasuke seemed intent on her, but she knew he had already calculated how long it would take for that fist to connect, and had already found a way to counter it.._

_She waited for the right moment, and as soon as she deflected a high right punch, she flung herself away from Sasuke and towards Choji. She felt the air rush over her as the fist passed no more than an inch above her._

_Sasuke was caught off guard long enough for Choji to wrap his hand around him. "Ino! Now!" Choji hollered as he squeezed the Sound ninja tight in his palm._

_Ino nodded and formed the seal for mind destruction jutsu. She launched it at Sasuke; the rest happened in slow motion._

_She felt her jutsu connect with Sasuke, felt the penetration into his mind, and felt him completely destroy the jutsu, she heard him form his favorite jutsu, and she watched as he broke the grip of her huge comrade._

"_CHIDORI!" he roared as he ran the length of Choji's massive arm at blinding speed. He reached Choji's shoiulder and threw himself against his chest, impaling the bulky warrior through his left breast._

_Choji gave a sickly weak cough. "Ino." he coughed, "I'm sorry I couldn't get you to that altar."_

_He grabbed a firm hold on Sasuke's arm protruding from his chest, and jabbed with a kunai hidden in his left hand. Sasuke seen the move and altered his body just enough so that when the blade bit into his flesh, it didn't hit anything vitsal._

_As Choji's body lost muscle control and began falling, he yanked his arm free and jumped to a nearby branch. "You may have stopped me from getting those messages, but you won't be able to stop me from crushing all of you in your pathetic little village., be sure of that." he hissed._

Ino woke to the sound of birds chirping. She wasn't in her bedroom at Shika's, she was somewhere she hadn't been before. Last night came back to her slowly, and she realized she must be in Sakura's new apartment, and morning was just coming into full swing.

* * *

Several Hours Before

The man sat cross-legged atop the Fourth Hokage's head in a sour mood. The last mission was no fun at all. Seven rogue Cloud ninja's holding a regional lord hostage. The lord's manor having fifteen foot tall stone walls that were about four foot thick, with no trees close enough to provide cover. All Jonin, all ready to kill the lord at any sign of trouble. He took out one when the man had stopped to take a piss, a kunai through the spinal cord and a full grown man would drop like a sack of potatoes. He disguised himself and got close enough to another of them to put his machete across the man's jugular.

He liked using a machete over a ninjato, the blade may be a little shorter, but it was broader and thicker, and could be used just as effectively. He only carried it to counter any sword wielding opponent he faced, preferring to use kunai or daggers, he liked being inches from his enemies when he cut them.

The third ninja proved to be a little tougher, actually fighting back when he noticed the disguise. He made the mistake of trying to punch, and had his arm caught and his body dragged forward, close enough that his neck could be snapped without much trouble.

The fourth ninja fell from a well placed senbon from thirty feet away. The fifth and sixth never even knew they were being attacked, and the leader had fallen with his own sword through his chest.

The man stood. He had long black hair that hung past his shoulders, his hair had been died black, the evidence of so being the inch of golden blond roots. He wore a dark grey trench coat with a golden Konoha symbol emblazoned on the shoulders with matching gold buckles with the insignia running down one side. Under the coat a black muscle shirt clung to an extremely muscled chest, gray cargo pants a shade darker than his coat were tucked into black steel toe boots with a silver Leaf insignia on the toe. He wore a Konoha headband on his forehead; but he gazed down upon the city with contempt.

This mission had been too easy, not worth the A-level ranking it had received. The world was too peaceful to satisfy his lust for blood anymore. He sighed, the only person he could blame for that was himself.

He was, after all, Naruto Uzumaki; hero and Demon of the Hidden Leaf Village.

He opened his slate gray eyes to view the city from a street side view, the pupils resembling shattered glass.

He had about four hours of night left to enjoy

And he needed to debrief with his Master and the Hokage. He jumped down into the night, lost in the memory of how he acquired such an unholy and lofty title.

* * *

_End of chapter one people. It's a little short, but it would be way too long if I had put the full chapter one into this. So what didn't go into this one will go into chapter two, I hope the five chapters I post this first time will be enough to satisfy you guys/gals for a few months, if I don't have another set of five done by that time, I'll just post what I have so that you don't have to wait for the remaining chapters to be finished to get a little further into the story._

_And yes, I was up all night, the 25__th__ to get this to you. Trust me, I didn't mind at all. I'd be happy to get some feedback, so don't be afraid to tell me your opinions._

_Peace. _


	2. Chapter 2

Five Star Seals: Breaking the Chain That is Love

Chapter Two

_Hey everyone! Did you like where I ended the first revised chapter. Can you believe that it's about the same length as the whole first one; and I'm only halfway through._

_So, I have to apologize for this chapter taking so long to write, the semester has just started and I've been trying to maintain my GPA. Any day I get a chance I'm typing on this story, it will probably be way past April by the time you read this though…_

_I've already got the story written to a certain degree, so you don't have to worry about certain topics and plot twists changing too radically from the original storyline, they will just appear in a more detailed sequence throughout more than one or two chapters._

_But I'm not going to spoil it before you experience it for yourself. Enjoy!_

_Started 9:32 PM 12/26/2010_

_Finished 2:15 AM 04/11/2011_

* * *

_The man sat cross-legged atop the Fourth Hokage's head in a sour mood. The last mission was no fun at all. Seven rogue Cloud ninja holding a regional lord hostage. The lord's manor having fifteen foot tall stone walls that were about four foot thick, with no trees close enough to provide cover. All Jonin, all ready to kill the lord at any sign of trouble. He took out one when the man had stopped to take a piss, a kunai through the spinal cord and a full grown man would drop like a sack of potatoes. He disguised himself and got close enough to another of them to put his machete across the man's jugular._

_He liked using a machete over a ninjato, the blade may be a little shorter, but it was broader and thicker, and could be used just as effectively. He only carried it to counter any sword wielding opponent he faced, preferring to use kunai or daggers, he liked being inches from his enemies when he cut them._

_The third ninja proved to be a little tougher, actually fighting back when he noticed the disguise. He made the mistake of trying to punch, and had his arm caught and his body dragged forward, close enough that his neck could be snapped without much trouble._

_The fourth ninja fell from a well placed senbon from thirty feet away. The fifth and sixth never even knew they were being attacked, and the leader had fallen with his own sword through his chest._

_The man stood. He had long black hair that hung past his shoulders, his hair had been died black, the evidence of so being the inch of golden blond roots. He wore a dark grey trench coat with a golden Konoha symbol emblazoned on the shoulders with matching gold buckles with the insignia running down one side. Under the coat a black muscle shirt clung to an extremely muscled chest, gray cargo pants a shade darker than his coat were tucked into black steel toe boots with a silver Leaf insignia on the toe. He wore a Konoha headband on his forehead; but he gazed down upon the city with contempt._

_This mission had been too easy, not worth the A-level ranking it had received. The world was too peaceful to satisfy his lust for blood anymore. He sighed, the only person he could blame for that was himself._

_He was, after all, Naruto Uzumaki; hero and Demon of the Hidden Leaf Village._

_He opened his slate gray eyes to view the city from a street side view, the pupils resembling shattered glass._

_He had about four hours of night left to enjoy_

_And he needed to debrief with his Master and the Hokage. He jumped down into the night, lost in the memory of how he acquired such an unholy and lofty title._

* * *

He walked lazily up the street towards the Hokage's office. His master wasn't expecting him back until tomorrow, but he needed another mission…there hadn't been enough casualties on this last one to satisfy.

For the last two years, he had been Konoha's most valuable asset; a ninja that felt no pain or fear, who focused solely on completing the mission and would not hesitate to spill blood.

Well of course he wouldn't hesitate…that was his goal.

He smiled as he scanned the empty streets. There wouldn't be a soul walking down these streets for at least four hours, and even then there wouldn't be a crowd. He loved the lifeless look that Konoha had in the night. He wished it would stay like this all the time.

He reached into his coat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, he tapped the bottom and nimbly snatched the one cigarette that had shot out of it. He stopped walking long enough to light it and take a deep pull off of it. Then he continued at his former pace, the only sign of his passing being the ashes from the cigarette, and then the filter as he finished it.

He stopped walking when he reached the gate of the Hokage's office. Pushing chakra into his legs, he launched himself over the wall and slowly made his way to the office window. When he looked inside, Tsunade was sitting at her desk, looking through forms by candlelight, while his master dozed in a chair by the door. He slipped through an open window just to the right of the Hokage, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.

"Well, I didn't expect a welcoming party this early Lady Hokage." he said.

Tsunade launched herself forward over the desk in alarm, shrieking once before turning to see who had been behind her, clutching her chest. Jiraiya had been woken by her shriek and had toppled out of his chair with a yelp of his own.

Naruto chuckled, "Did I surprise you?" he asked, sardonically feigning innocence.

"Naruto!" Tsunade began, trying weakly to sound stern. "You weren't expected for another day. Did the mission go smoothly?"

"Of course Lady Hokage, all enemy ninja were terminated and the hostage lord freed, no other casualties."

Tsunade pursed her lips. "Well that's a pleasant surprise to hear that, usually you aren't as quiet and clean with your binges, are you sure there isn't a nearby village missing their drunk or shady individuals?"

Naruto pretended to be hurt. "of course not!" he pouted "I am learning to control my urges, Lady Hokage. I haven't raised a village in months."

"Har-dee har har, you two." Jiraiya grumbled as he unsteadily righted himself and stood. "I believe Naruto's breakthrough in not savaging the local population is cause enough for a celebration! Tsunade! You provide the sake, Naruto! Run home and get some cups! Then all of us meet up on the cliff!"

Both Naruto and Tsunade turned their attention to the old man.

"And what are you providing, if I may be so bold." Tsunade queried.

"My good company, of course!" he chuckled.

They just kept staring.

* * *

They were sitting on a park bench, in the park located five minutes away from the Hokage's office, passing around a large gourd filled with cheap sake provided by a more than hospitable Jiraiya. And, although it looked a poor substitute for celebration, this was as close to it as this trio had gotten in two years.

Jiraiya and Tsunade were busy with a conversation that they seemed to want to keep from Naruto. He could have cared less, it was something they did often, and he didn't mind; from this park bench, he could just get a glimpse of the Hyuuga main compound building's tiled roof.

He didn't want to see it, and through the haze of inebriation, he realized that he couldn't tear his eyes away from it. His body was locked in place, a half smoked cigarette hanging loosely in his mouth

His eyelids slipped down over drunken eyes still locked to that rooftop, and the nightmares began.

* * *

_This mouthy fuck was going to die. Naruto was tired of listening to him already; and they weren't even halfway to Konohagakure._

_The mouthy fucker happened to be a ninja from the Sound village. He had been caught by a ninja patrol scouting to the east, and had secured him with luck alone, finally managing to apprehend and sedate him._

_They were all low ranked Chunin. This man was a high level Jonin, and an Anbu team was needed to escort him to Ibiki and the interrogation squad in Konoha. So who could Tsunade pick, but the best Anbu Konoha could offer._

_And it was Naruto who got the shaft, he had to lead the damn mission, but it wasn't all bad, his two teammates for this trip would be Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuuga. Sakura had been his friend for years, and had actually played a part in hunting down the Akatsuki_

_The team was an excellent unit, especially for prisoner escort missions. A medic ninja to keep the prisoner under control during travel, guard the prisoner during engagement, and assist in normal duties otherwise. A great tracking ninja with abilities like Hinata's allowed her to pinpoint enemies from up to three hundred meters, she was there in case of an escape or a rescue attempt, she'd be able to alert her team to the oncoming danger, plus, she excelled at hand to hand combat. While Naruto himself was the cream of the badass crop in his own eyes; he was a powerhouse with a vast amount of fighting will and stamina, and with large chakra reserves, he was the muscle, if the prisoner made a break for it, he was there to catch him, or kill him, and he was there to stop rescue attempts, or at least make sure they stayed attempts, rarely did the survivors of the first attempt try again._

_He just wanted to kill the mouthy bastard the moment he came to._

_The man was large, he couldn't be carried anywhere; so Sakura had to walk close to him with her chakra scalpel ready for any little move, and even though he was cuffed, his arms were free to move enough to pinch her ass more than once. He even made a pass at Hinata! His crappy pickup lines and disgusting comments on what he'd do if he had a piece of her ass was driving Naruto berserk, and both women were uncomfortable to an extreme that Naruto's chivalrous personality couldn't handle._

"_Listen buddy." he growled the next time he heard Sakura yelp, "Just because we were told to bring you to the village alive, doesn't mean we can't leave a few body parts behind on the road here. Keep your hands off the girls, or you'll be two nuts and a shaft lighter when we Reach the gates. Hear me?"_

"_Yeah yeah, you fuckhead." the ninja grumbled "Take all the fun outta the trip. It's a waste of time anyway, you bastards aint gonna get anythin' outta me."_

"_Ibiki will see about that." Hinata said with a frown._

_Thanks to training from her older cousin Neji, along with dating Naruto and training with him for almost five years; Hinata had seriously matured over the years. Long gone was the meek and quiet girl who believed so little in herself. Hinata had become strong, one of the strongest konoichi the village had seen in thirty years. _

_She had been one of the first to suggest an all out attack on the Sound village a little over two years ago, and then accompanied Naruto and Sakura deep into the Sound's underground fortress in search of Orochimaru, and both Naruto and Sakura agreed that if she hadn't been present, Orochimaru would have been victorious. To top that off, she had went with Naruto when he began his scourge of the Akatsuki, and was personally responsible for dispatching Konan. She was still quiet, but no longer was she shy, and her determination competed with Naruto's. _

_Naruto gave her a small smile and then turned his attention back to the Sound ninja. "Ibiki has cracked every single one of his victims, what makes you think you will be any different?"_

_The man sneered, making his face look even more rat-like than before, his large body wiggling with his barely restrained mirth. "It pays to have friends in high places fuckhead, and my friend is right at the top."_

_Naruto was about to retort when Hinata's voice rang out urgently. "Naruto, a single incoming figure, moving extremely fast, and I'd recognize the bastard anywhere. It's Sasuke!"_

"_Damn!" Naruto growled, "I guess we know who his friend is! Which direction?"_

"_To our left…wait! He's gone!" She shouted, having to over the prisoners mad cackle._

_Sakura dropped back behind the prisoner, her hands glowed faintly with chakra as she prepared chakra scalpels for hand to hand combat. Naruto stood at the front of the party, blue eyes searching for his target. Hinata was at the rear, her eyes scanning a three hundred and sixty degrees around the group, up to a distance of fifty five meters from her location._

"_Where'd he go Hinata?" Naruto began in a slightly frustrated tone, "I need his position, as quickly as you can."_

"_I'm trying, but I just can't find-" she couldn't finish as smoke engulfed the team._

_Coughing Naruto began flying through hand seals. He finished and swept his arm towards his teammates; the wind jutsu causing a gust and ripping the smokescreen to shreds._

_The sight it revealed terrified him…_

_Sakura was down, she was collapsed and clutching her arm; a pool of blood forming on the ground from the deep cut that stretched from her shoulder to a few inches above her wrist. The prisoner was dead, a kunai buried in his eye, the tip of the blade poking out of the other side of his head. But the worst sight lay all the way at the back of the formation; Sasuke, Sharingan activated and sword drawn, the blade laying across Hinata's neck, her arms pinned behind her back by his other arm._

"_Let her go, you twisted fuck, and I'll make you die quick." Naruto growled, his eyes already flickering red._

_Years earlier, Naruto had sworn not to use Kyuubi's power, and had succeeded in becoming strong without it. He rarely used Kyuubi any more, and to see the red flicker in his eye was a clear indication that his self control was wavering._

"_You remember Kakashi's test?" Sasuke chuckled, "I love to see it in action though, kill Sakura."_

"_No chance in hell asshole." Naruto said with barely contained rage saturating his voice._

_Sasuke smirked, "Do it, or Hinata dies." he said, pulling the blade slightly back, nicking her nick, she hissed in pain and Naruto involuntarily flinched._

_**Kid, let me kill him! I will tear him apart! **__Kyuubi growled inside his head__. __**How dare he touch what is ours! HOW DARE HE!**_

_NO! __Naruto shouted at the cage, red mist seeping through the bars, __I won't use your power._

_**Would you let him kill her, there is no option otherwise. He will not harm what is ours!**_

_Grrrr! __Naruto growled at the beast in the cage. Then hung his head, __Fine,__ he said, __as long as she comes out of it unharmed, I will let you fight him. But do not exceed four tails, I have a feeling we will need my body in working order after._

_The fox's head appeared on the other side of the cage; an evil grin adorning it, along with a feeling of intense malice permeating the air, __**Of course, NYAHAHAHAHA!**_

_Naruto's body lurched forward, he crouched on all fours as the cloak began to surround him. His eyes the color of fresh spilled blood and glowing with hate and anger. One tail formed, then two; the air around him began to shimmer as the third formed. His skin began peeling, and his blood became suspended in the mass of chakra that surrounded him, his body became shielded behind it, his eyes became large white circles, and a mouth began to form, the corporeal body surrounding him flickering like static; the transformation was complete._

_The beast that had taken control of Naruto's body let out a bloodcurdling shriek. Sasuke's smirk turned to a frown, and he tossed the girl aside, his body slipping into a defensive stance. "Bring it on, you worthless mongrel." he challenged._

_The monster lunged at Sasuke with blinding speed. Sasuke's eyes picked up on it and he was able to dodge the first attack, or a least the physical attack. He countered with a fire jutsu, but one of the tails wrapped around his leg and threw him to the ground. His eyes picked up the movement of something above him just in time for him to throw himself way from the Kyuubi's point of impact._

_The beast had struck the ground with enough force to create a sizable crater. Sasuke had avoided the blow, but the shifting earth hadn't been expected, and he had been pummeled by large chunks of rubble as he was knocked off his feet._

_As he regained his footing, he thrust his arm forward and half-blocked a sweep of the monsters powerful arm. Landing, he assessed his situation, broken wrist, and he was sure a minimum of six bones in his right foot had been crushed, and several were broken as well, A cracked rib and what felt like a minor fracture on the left femur, this fight was winding down and he was on the losing side._

"_Now now, Naruto. Do you really believe that I'll be beaten so soon after getting what I came for." Sasuke chided, pulling a kunai from his holster; he settled into a defensive stance._

_There was no time to react, and Sasuke's eyes caught it just as he blinked, seen it through the Sharingan; felt it in the trembling earth. His eyelid moved down, and he felt the ground tremble, he felt the breeze as something sinister swept past him. His eyelid moved up and he was staring into those glowing white eyes, staring into teeth jagged as the rocks surrounding the mouth of hell. He was entwined in a cocoon wrought of four tails, reeking with the blood of the demon container; the blood that gave this chakra cloak its chaotic luster._

_Sakura and Hinata crouched together, staring wide-eyed and frightened at the scene before them; or what they could see of it. A red glow surrounded the two shinobi locked in the gaze of the other._

_And then the screams began._

_Hinata trembled, feeling the demon's joy radiating across the ridge in waves. She could hear Sasuke's screams._

"_MY EYES! OH GOD, MY EYES! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO"_

_Sasuke's screams were cut off with a sound oddly familiar to that of the crunching of bones. Both konoichi turned to the other as realization dawned._

_The demon was eating his enemy._

* * *

Naruto jerked awake, almost imagining he could hear that deranged voice inside his head, no, only silence, just himself, floating endlessly in the darkness that were his thoughts. Reality faded again as he drifted back into the hell that waited for him.

* * *

"_Hinata? Sakura?" Naruto mumbled weakly as he woke up, pain spreading through his body as the Kyuubi began repairing the damage it had caused._

"_Naruto!" Sakura gasped, she looked away and bit her lip, Naruto's eyes scanned the battlefield, the prisoner lay where he had fallen; craters and scorched earth covered the ridge, a large circle of blood adorned the ground a few feet away from him, Sasuke was nowhere to be found, and Hinata was a good thirty feet away. Retching over the side of the cliff._

_Ignoring the pain in his body, he rushed over to her. "Hinata! Hinata! Are you all right?" he questioned as he placed a hand on her shoulder. He wasn't prepared for what happened next._

_Her hand grabbed his and flung it away, and she turned, her voice dripping with hate and fear as she screamed._

"_Get away from me, Demon!"_

_He died then, hearing her say those words. He turned away from her, unable to stop the flow of tears streaming down his cheeks._

"_If that is what you wish. Then you won't ever see me again."_

_He took off with blinding speed, moving away from heir destination. He spent four weeks by himself in the woods of Fire Country before a team of Anbu found him, he learned on the way home what had happened to his teammates._

_Sakura had assumed command, when they returned to Konohagakure she had resigned from the Anbu, she had switched herself to a full time field-medic, before taking a few weeks off to spend with her new boyfriend, the infamously stoic Shino. Hinata had tried to burn their apartment down, she hadn't succeeded, and was almost delighted to pack her things and move back into the Hyuuga compound._

_She had began to talk to herself almost a week after she returned, and had to have Anbu watch her constantly, to make sure she wouldn't harm herself, or others._

_Naruto was being led to a high security prison; where he would have to wait until Tsunade decided to switch him to house arrest under Anbu guard or back to full duty status._

_Naruto didn't like cells…_

_He told the Anbu escorting him so…_

_They laughed and told him to suck it up…_

_He shattered most of the bones inside their bodies before he made his way to the Hyuuga main compound._

* * *

Naruto woke. Shattered slate gray eyes flickered red as he picked up a word spoken by the two people next to him. A word, a name, _Hinata._

"Hinata." he said, clutching his right shoulder, an agony filled hiss passing between his lips silenced any conversation between Jiraiya and the Hokage.

"Naruto?" Tsunade began, "Are you…"

"I loved her," he said, "Now I must, I must hate_ her_" his eyes flickered back to gray, and he shot off into the night, remembering vividly that final night.

* * *

_He rushed into the gardens behind the main building, knowing this was where she would be. He would not have been prepared for that sight if he had lived a hundred years. She stood where he had proposed on their return to Konoha; she was in the arms of another man, another Anbu, her old teammate, Kiba Inuzuka, their arms were wrapped around the other, and their lips pressed together._

_Naruto lost all coherent thought, he felt a searing pain and a white light enveloped him, all he could hear was the Kyuubi's insane snarl…_

_He woke up over the pitiful form of his fian- no, _ex-_fiancé. Her eyes were wide with terror, a few feet away lay the mangled corpse of Kiba, and he knew…_

_The Kyuubi was taking control._

_Tears fell, he knew what had to be done, even with his own voice screaming in his mind that something wasn't right about this, he still leaned forward. The kiss he gave her was so loving and tender that he almost lost himself. _

"_It was always you, I could never love someone else; I can do one last thing for you, this one thing, take it as my parting gift to you, my love."_

_He stood, silently walking to the largest tree in the garden, an old oak, under which Hnata and Kiba had been standing what he guessed was only moments before…_

_This oak had been here for a hundred years, and every proposal to the heir of the main branch was made under its boughs. It grew partially in the pond that adorned the center of the gardens, and it was an extremely beautiful sight to behold._

_He sat at it's base, pulling two kunai from his holster, he quickly brought the finely hone blades to bear over his wrists._

_The Kyuubi made no move to heal him, as if it understood. Darkness shrouded his vision, reality changed, and the last thought he was able to comprehend was __Maybe this is for the best, Hinata, I love you…_

_Naruto Uzumaki died a few seconds later…_

* * *

_Naruto woke in chains. Granted he was no longer Naruto Uzumaki, Granted he was no longer a shinobi allied to any village, but he was Naruto._

_And he was furious._

"_DAMN IT, FOX! WHY DID YOU HEAL ME?"_

"_The Kyuubi did not heal you." said a grave voice out of the darkness that surrounded him. Floodlights were turned on and a blinding white light filled the room. Eight medical shinobi, Tsunade and Jiraiya stood before him, the medical team handling large machines and standing before computer monitors._

"_Who did then?" he growled_

"_I did, you brat. I could have let you die, and I kind of wanted to. But be thankful Jiraiya talked me out of it, we can still use you, as a shinobi, you are still a tool."_

"_I am a broken tool…please, just end me."_

"_ENOUGH!" Jiraiya shouted. "I know you've lost everything Naruto, but I have found a way to stop the Kyuubi…A seal that completely cuts you off from your Bijuu… It was invented by a wielder of the Shukaku to suppress the monster within. You still have a chance."_

"_It's a powerful seal." Tsunade said, "The cost is extremely high, and if you're lucky, you won't be one of the few to survive."_

_Naruto hung his head, staring down at his hands. "if I don't die, what's going to happen?"_

"_Other than losing access to Kyuubi's chakra, you will suffer some mental effects, insomnia, chemical instability, pure insanity, or it could just render you completely useless, in a vegetative state, unknowing of everything…" Jiraiya said in barely a whisper._

_Naruto chuckled. "Either it kills me, or it works and I don't care…do with me what you will, but before I slip away, what became of Kiba and Hinata?"_

_Tsunade's face became graver. "Kiba died on an operating table, and Hinata has fully snapped, she has been placed in the best medical facility Konoha has to offer. Your crime, Nnaruto Uzumaki, is that of assault on Konohagakure Anbu operatives, Murder, and assault of an Heiress of the Hyuuga clan."_

"_I see, Well, Lady Hokage, I am ready to face my punishment." he said, his eyes never leaving hers._

"_Jiraiya, begin." she ordered._

_He nodded, pulling Naruto roughly into a standing position, he waited until the medical team finished hooking up the machinery, then he gave Naruto a fierce hug._

"_It'll end well boy." he said._

"_Only if I'm dead." was the reply._

_Naruto was strapped onto a table. He made no move to stop them, gave no resistance whatsoever, he was already a corpse. Jiraiya began by extracting a needle of blood from his arm and mixing it with a pot of ink, he pulled another needle out of a tray beside the medics and did the same with Naruto, one needle into one small pot of ink. He used the pot with his blood to draw a large circle around Naruto, along with all of the necessary kanji. He picked up the pot with Naruto's blood and stepped out of the circle, drawing a small seal on the ground._

_His hands were slightly shaking as he walked over to the blond boy he had mentored, and with the pot that help the boy's blood, he drew five seals, one on each shoulder and thigh, and one directly on his heart._

_He looked down on his pupil one last time._

"_This will hurt, Naruto…"_

"_I… I deserve it, Sensei."_

_Jiraiya nodded and stepped out of the circle. He sat behind the small seal he drew with Naruto's mixture and began flying rapidly through handsigns. He sat there for almost three minutes before he finally slammed his hand down, shouting._

"_FIVE STAR SEAL!"_

_A white glow filled the room, and the lights began flickering. The medical shinobi glued their eyes to the monitors, hoping to ignore the young man's screams of agony. To no avail._

"_BEGIN…REGRET!" Jiraiya puffed, pushing more chakra into the seal._

_A yellow glow blossomed from the seal on Naruto's left thigh, and his screams intensified. All witnessed as a molten line of glowing yellow liquid light began scribing the seal there, forming a circle with the kanji for 'regret'._

_As the seal finished Naruto began gasping, the pain seemed to lessen…_

"_BEGIN…LOSS!" Jiraiya shouted._

_A blue Aura surrounded his right thigh. Naruto howled as the pain doubled from before. Again the light began scripting the seal, a large blue circle with the Kanji for 'loss'. but when it was finished, his screams didn't stop, the pain never lessened._

"_Hokage-sama, the Kyuubi is fighting the seals!" one of the medics shouted, turning from her monitor._

"_Jiraiya!"_

"_Heh, do you think he'd give up control of his vessel easily?" Jiraiya puffed, "He'll fight it, but I've got two already done, he can't have much fight left…BEGIN…PAIN!"_

_Naruto's eyes rolled, his whole body was liquefying around him. On his left shoulder a green burst of light sparked that trail of light as the third seal was being drawn. The circle formed, and then the kanji for 'pain', and again, the pain didn't lessen, but he honestly believed that there could be no pain greater than what he felt now…_

_Until he heard Jiraiya shout "BEGIN…HATE!"_

_The pain was so intense that he couldn't scream, could form a thought, there were no colors, no shapes, no light or dark, there was nothing, and his mind embraced it. The fourth seal was being burned in a blood red light onto his right shoulder, a circle around the kanji for 'hate'._

"_The Kyuubi continues to resist, I'm not sure how much more of this Naruto-san can take!" The medic shouted._

"_His neural patterns have ceased to function!" another reported._

"_Brain activity has ceased!" came a shout form someone else._

"_Damn it! Jiraiya, we're losing him! Stop the sealing!"_

_Jiraiya turned his head slightly, "If I stop now, that fifth seal will be an open doorway for the Kyuubi; besides, I'm the only one here who cares whether he lives or dies anymore, right?"_

_Tsunade bit her lip._

"_This is supposed to happen, have the defibrillators ready, after this last one he might go into cardiac arrest… BEGIN…LOVE!"_

_A purple glow shot from the seal on his chest, instantly fully lit, Naruto began screaming again._

"_Nerve patters are functioning again!"_

"_Brain activity normal!"_

_Tsunade turned to the first medic, "What of the Kyuubi?"_

"_He's ceased to resist ma'am." she reported._

_The four earlier seals began to dim; and as they dimmed, the fifth grew brighter… until it was the only seal lit, and then it faded, and then silence graced the room._

"_Someone give me results." Tsunade ordered tersely. _

"_Well," the first medic began, "We have detected only one link to the Kyuubi, apparently, it refuses to give up the ability to heal Naruto-san's body. Other than that, no chakra or demonic psyche can pass through the seal."_

_One of the medics reading brain activity walked over, holding a clipboard in his hands. "We have noticed that, while his brain patterns are stable, they can shift and change at any moment, most likely the change will be violent, but on the count of emotions…well, either he doesn't have any, or he has suppressed all of them…"_

_The woman monitoring his nervous system spoke softly after, "Most of his nerves for pain are fried, I think only damage to the internal organs themselves can cause him pain, and then we aren't sure how much…all except for the spots under each seal, they seem to have double the sensitivity as before, apart from those, I don't think he could feel much of anything, even a kunai in the chest, as long as it misses the seal."_

_A yellow flash of light struck the room. And suddenly Naruto was standing in front of Tsunade, the seal on his left thigh nothing but a burned pentagram in his skin._

"_Test that theory, Lady Hokage, heeheehee."_

* * *

Naruto barreled through the streets, vendors were just opening their stands and the village's early risers were up and moving…he had to get home, before he had to talk to people…he _hated _talking

* * *

"I think he broke the fourth one." Tsunade said as she stared in the direction he left, "I'm worried, there's only one more, in his state, the Kyuubi would easily take him over."

"There is nothing we can do at the moment, Tsunade-sama." Jiraiya said with a sigh. "Just wait and pray that when the last seal breaks, he'll be ready to face the worst demon of all."

"The Kyuubi will-"

"No. Not the Kyuubi; himself, if the Naruto we knew could see himself now, he'd be horrified."

"But perhaps it is for the best."

Jiraiya turned a searching gaze to her. "You are starting to sound like a dead man I wasn't very fond of, he isn't an experiment, nor is he a monstrous pet."

"Then what is he?"

"My student."

* * *

Ino bought an apple and munched it contentedly as she made her way home. She had just rounded a corner when a dark figure barreled into her at shinobi speed, without thinking she reached into her holster for a kunai.

The two wrestled for a moment, and Ino found herself pinned under the figure, clearly a man, for the deep tone of his voice, she felt steel bit her skin as he pushed her hand into a position to ram her own kunai into her throat, and at that moment she looked up to see her attacker, and her eyes widened in shock.

"N-Naruto?" she gasped

"Ino?"

* * *

_Okay! A bit longer than the first revised chapter, but it still ended where the original first chapter did, so I think it works fine, um well, my first idea of posting in five chapter intervals is out the window, so, I'm going to post in original chapter order. So if it takes three chapters to write out chapter two (Which won't have a lot of the bs stuff from the original, it will be much better) then the next post will be three chapters. I don't know when I can get the next set up, but I'll try to get it as quick as possible. So, feel free to comment, tell me what I'm doing wrong, or whatever else is on your mind. And enjoy the spring!_

_Peace _


	3. Chapter 3

Five Star Seal; Breaking the Chain That is Love

Chapter Three

_Well here I am again, it's a bit later than expected, it's been kind of hard doing anything the last few months, but I've been in a good mood and it's helped the writing process a bit…_

_First, I'd like to thank the few who have reviewed. It's really nice to know I'm doing a good job. The next few chapters should be enough to satisfy for a few months, or I hope, because I'm not sure how often I'll get to touch my computer._

_But I'm sure it's the story you came here to read, so let's begin!_

_Started: 9:17 PM 9/10/2011_

_Finished: 1:31 A.M 10/04/2011_

* * *

Naruto quickly flipped off of the blond lying under him. He stuck his hand out to her and chuckled faintly.

Ino was shocked as she got a look at the hooligan that just ran her over.

"N-Naruto?"

"I'm sorry about that ma'am," he said, an uneasy air around him, as if this was the last thing he wanted to do, "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Since when does Naruto Uzumaki ever look where he's going?" Ino replied, shaken, as he helped her up, "And when did my name change to ma'am, Naruto, we grew up together, aren't we on a first name basis?"

"Please don't use my full name." Naruto said with a severe frown that, in Ino's opinion, should never have crossed his bewhiskered face. He looked angry, and this Naruto in front of her looked a far cry different from the Naruto she remembered four years ago, and it dawned on her that she really hadn't noticed his absence in all these years, she felt guilty, she had shut herself off from everyone.

This 'new' Naruto was taller than she was, by close to a foot, that put him at about six and a half feet tall, long black hair hung past his shoulders; the roots though, were the blond she remembered of her genin friend, his goatee was also dyed black, he wore a grey trench that she was sure he would've turned his nose up to before he became a Jonin. His eyes though, caught her and held her attention, they were slate grey, and looked like shattered glass.

"Well, it's your name isn't it?" she said, hoping that this now dangerous looking Naruto wouldn't beat her to a pulp.

"A name it may be, but to me it's still filth." he said, changing his position a little. He didn't look so threatening now.

Ino bit her lip for a second, then decided to chance her normal rash behavior. "Well, it's the name on your I.D. so that's what I'm gonna call you, any problems and you can cry into your penis pillow later, just not in front of me."

Naruto chuckled. Ino grinned; she had missed her friends, and no amount of booze could solve that, maybe it was time to live a little more. An idea started to form in her head _let's see if I can still push any guy into doing what I want_. She eyed Naruto up and down, he wasn't all that bad looking, the black hair and goatee aside.

"Since you knocked me over and all," she said, a mischievous smile on her face "I think it's only fair if you take me out to eat tonight."

Naruto kept a straight face, but his mind was reeling. _This is exactly what I didn't want to happen, but I have to admit, it's better than everyone I talk to being afraid of me, but what about that temper of mine, but she made me laugh…_his head was starting to hurt a little, but he hadn't talked to any of his friends in years, he'd went on a couple missions with some of the higher ranked older Shinobi, but those were missions, he was torn between the thought of enjoying his solitude, or the company of the blond in front of him.

Ino seen the gears turning in those odd eyes, and decided to take her teasing a step up. He wasn't paying too close attention, and suddenly he found his thoughts interrupted by a slight warm breeze tickling his ear and the back of his neck, while a flower scented perfume washed over him.

"It's settled then," she whispered through her grin, barely an inch from his ear, "Pick me up at the Interrogation Building at five, my shift ends then."

"Yes ma'am, five at the interrogation building."

He just realized what was going on; she was behind him, her arms around his shoulders, standing on her toes so she could get that high up whispering sexily in his ear. He turned to say something and she vanished in a swirl of leaves.

He stood dumbfounded for a moment _Did Ino really just talk me into taking her out?_ he asked himself, remembering her whispering into his ear.

He chuckled and took off home at a leisurely walk.

"Yep" he said to himself as he walked through the morning crowd.

* * *

Ino dashed through the streets of Konoha to the Interrogation Building, not far from the Academy. She was extremely giddy, her mind kept shooting back to her run in with Naruto just a moment ago. She kept going over the last few seconds in her mind, her body feeling an electric shock as she remembered her body pressed into his back, and the smell of the woods that seemed to hang on him. She had a smile as she walked into the building and to her office.

Ino was one of Konoha's best interrogators, her mind jutsu being particularly effective and also due to her being an extremely pretty woman; she could get any piece of information from anyone she chose, unfortunately, both of her closest coworkers lusted her for those very same qualities.

Anko was the person she worked with most. The woman was clinically insane, usually Ino had to resort to a little sake to shield herself from the unceasing attempts to get into her pants that Anko made daily, but today was different, with her mind on a different target, her good mood kept Anko from being _too _bad…

Not..

"Woah! Looks like somebody got a quickie before work!" Anko said, immediately picking up on Ino's good mood.

"Wish it was you, dontcha?" Ino shot back with a grin.

"Well, if she's pretty enough, I don't mind sharing, as long as you have to." Anko replied with a wink.

Ino shook her head, "Not a chance, and who says it's a girl?"

Anko gasped, "NOOOOOO, my little Ino's going straight! Why God? WHY?" Anko cried to the heavens.

They heard something fall and turned to the door. Ibiki was standing there with a hopeful look in his eye, the files he was carrying into the office forgotten on the floor.

"Really? FINALY! YES, HAHAHA! THANK YOU GOD!" he shouted falling to his knees.

Ino shot forward and kicked low, Ibiki stopped shouting with a small whine, and then fell forward, eyes rolling…

Ino looked down at Ibiki with a mildly concerned frown. She turned "Hey Anko; do you think I was too hard on him there? I feel kind of sorry for him."

Anko looked at her "Don't be honey. Men need this sort of punishment, especially the lechers like this one."

Ino sat back down at her desk, Ibiki's folder now open in her hands. "Well, then what do we do about lechers like you?"

Anko giggled mischievously, "Learn to enjoy my company."

* * *

Naruto made it to his apartment building just as morning was coming into full swing. He lived in the Western part of the city, and owned a great deal of property right on the edges, along the wooded cliffside. Two three story apartment buildings on either side of a large bit of land, only the westernmost one had access to the park though, the furthest one out; Naruto lived in this one, but didn't rent out any other rooms in it.

The other building's 60 rooms were always full, and it supplied a large part of his considerable income. He had been forced to assure other means of making money after the sealing, as Tsunade was loath to send him on a mission that didn't require his 'expertise'…meaning his newfound lust for killing.

He immediately walked deep into the park, taking a well disguised path farther than the natural boundaries, cliffs mostly, but there was a deep gully that was completely obscured by trees in the middle of the woods, too large to jump across.

The path ran through that gully, and then through a tunnel out to a small meadow surrounded by the woods on the other side, to all sides rose an enormous mountain range, the top of one such mountain; the one to the south, held Konoha's maximum security prison.

But this little meadow alone was important to him, in the very center, circled by a small grove of cherry trees, stood an onyx monument of three young ninja.

In the two years Naruto had hidden from the others, he hadn't been able to hide from the three that were sculpted; two of his best friends, and the boy who had shown him what he fought for. Sasuke Uchiha, Kiba Inuzuka, and a young boy named Haku.

He visited this place every morning, where he sat in silence, he asked their forgiveness every time he killed, the statue served as a reminder that Naruto had not yet been punished, for he was still breathing.

The sun was high overhead when he decided to get up and begin the activities of the reclusive life he lived.

He started with the park; picking over it to make sure it was clean and well kept, which is to say he spent a few hours strolling through it enjoying the scenery nature had provided.

He fed the large tigers that he kept there, his favorite pets. He was especially fond of the female, who had tried to take a chunk out of his leg every day since he had acquired her; the male was more friendly, preferring to try and eat him only once a week.

He cleaned the large pond of leaves and other undesirables, careful not to stir the school of piranhas he got for a good price last year, they were getting rather large now.

He checked all of the tunnel openings to make sure the family of bears hadn't decided to hibernate in one of them.

Naruto walked back to his building at a little past four in the afternoon, electing to take a break from some light training to eat and get ready for the date he still wasn't sure how he got talked into going on.

He turned the key and let himself in. The building he lived in was all large suites, and even though he was the only resident, he often felt cramped in his apartment. Or that's what he told himself.

The Third Hokage had given him the deed to the apartments in his will, to be given to him when he became a Jonin, and when Hinata had moved in with Naruto, she had talked him into renovating both buildings, and then she had added her own personal touch to the twenty suites. She had claimed that she had a plan with them, which was part of the reason he never rented them out.

Until the 'accident' Naruto never entered any of the other apartments, and after he had, he wished he could forget what they looked like. Sadly, as he didn't want any of the maids that cleaned the other building back here intruding on his privacy, he was reminded every week when he went in each one to clean.

Hinata had designed all of them specifically for each one of their friends, and then designed their own apartment. She had wanted them all to live there with them later on, and was keeping it a surprise from everyone until all the rooms were finished.

When Choji died, the buildings were still under construction. He remembered how hard Hinata had cried that night, right before she stormed out of their apartment and locked herself in the one closest to the stairs on the bottom floor.

He presumed at the time that this was to be Choji's apartment, as it was closest to the rec room with it's vending machines.

He glanced around at the slate walls that were almost the same color as his new eyes, the white trim almost glowing against the gray, the apartment wasn't alarmingly large, but it wasn't small. The living room was separated from the kitchen by means of a long bar, which of course, held many different brands of not only top shelf liquor, but a large collection of herbs and spices; as Hinata began trying to wean him off of ramen, Naruto had discovered that he had quite a dab hand in the kitchen. The kitchen was simply arranged, with plenty of room to maneuver, even with a table to one side, used only when Jiraiya and Tsunade came over to play cards and drink all his booze.

On the living room side of the bar, a wide hall led down to the master bedroom at the end, the large bathroom on the kitchen side, and the spare bedroom directly across from it. Hinata had wanted children, but the prospect of being both parent and ninja had seemed to be battling each other when she was designing the apartment. Ninja weren't known to lead long enough lives to raise a child. After their apartment was finished, she had told Naruto that she had decided to make only one other bedroom in case they decided they could handle a baby. He snorted as he remembered, apparently they couldn't have.

Naruto put water to boil for some tea, contemplating the emptiness of his home. He was very frugal, there were no pictures, except for one old picture of team seven, in which he , Sasuke and Sakura had turned their headbands just like Kakashi used to. A recliner and couch sat in the living room with a very antique looking coffee table; Naruto didn't own a television, and didn't have a radio other than a small CB set to a Konoha ninja channel, just in case of emergency broadcasts. No magnets decorated his refrigerator, there was no sign that anyone even lived in it except for the closet filled with Naruto's clothes, the well stocked kitchen, and today's newspaper sitting on the bar.

Naruto was just slightly grumpy that Ino had talked him into going out tonight; but he wasn't unhappy, he sat and sipped his tea, pondering his immensely quiet way of life.

When he wasn't killing something, he was just bored.

* * *

Ino flopped onto the couch in the break room; the day had been murder so far. There had been no activity from the remnants of the Sound ninja since Naruto had dispatched Sasuke, but a few hours ago, Anbu scouts had picked up an intruder, a rogue ninja with connections to the Sound village.

The man had an iron will, and no amount of pain seemed to phase him. Ino sighed, the cutters still in her hands, well, he still had a few digits left she could get rid of…

Somehow, this guy had been able to force her out of his mind, and since she was the only active Yamanaka with the training in her family's jutsu, and her father opted to stay in his quiet Ino-free retirement, she'd just have to crack this nut the hard way.

"I take it he's still quiet as the grave, huh." Anko cheerfully gushed as she bounced over to sit by her. "Is it my turn now?"

"Just let me use these on _one_ more place and then you can have him." Ino joked, brandishing the blood-covered cutters, "He'll talk then. I know it."

"Awwww, but then you'll take all the fun stuff away, besides that's my metho-wait… THOSE ARE MY CUTTERS!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, sue me, let's just get in there and get the info we need before we kill this asshole, I wanna head home early tonight."

"Woo, lil' Ino's got herself a date, huh. Ya gonna get all kissy and then go make the dirty love noises?" Anko teased.

"Probably, you jealous?" Ino shot back, running her hand down Anko's cheek in a very sensual manner.

"Yehehehes." Anko whined piteously, then a blinding flash of light followed by a click came from the doorway.

"OH YEAH! ANOTHER ONE FOR THE SCRAPBOOK!" Ibiki shouted, dashing back into the offices.

Ino made to take off after him, but Anko put a hand on her shoulder. "Let him have it."

Ino looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Why?"

Anko grinned at her "I took the film out of that camera this morning."

Ibiki's cry of despair ran across the building.

"Now," Anko said rubbing her hands together, "Let's get down to business."

Ino sighed "As long as you let me remove his inchworm."

"Why? You wanna mount it on your mantelpiece?" Anko quipped

"Yup" Ino replied, "there's an open spot right next to yours."

Anko stopped in the doorway. "Ouch girl, kitty got claws…"

* * *

The man looked at the three nails in between his knuckles; all of them pounded in until the heads were cutting into the skin. These two sluts had been at him for hours now, and he couldn't tell which one was worse, the blonde bitch that hooked up the battery system to the two nails lodged in his knees, or the brunette who kept moaning every time the hammer fell.

He was missing every finger on his left hand and his thumb was the only digit left on his right one; apart from being nailed to the table, his feet were nailed into a block of wood as well. The blond had taken his chair over an hour ago, and he had to support himself up in an awkward position to make sure his body weight didn't rip the nails out of his hands.

He felt a prick in his neck and turned to find the blond staring stonily at him.

"And what's this? Decided to break your own law and use a truth serum? Sodium penathol doesn't always work."

Ino grimaced "No, we do have some, but what I'm injecting you with now is adrenaline… you see, Anko over there loves her torture victims to be awake and lucid for every minute of it. You're in for a rough night."

He turned to the brunette, who gave a mischievous smile and a little wave back… if she moaned in ecstasy as she hammered nails into his hand…

"What do you want to know?" he said to Ino as she opened the door.

Ino shut the door and turned to face him. "The Sound village was disbanded after the death of Sasuke Uchiha… why are you here?"

"My master sent me to scout Konoha's defences, my jutsu allows me to move completely undetected, even to other ninja…it was sheer dumb luck that the Anbu caught me."

"Who is your master?"

"Who, the leader of the Sound village of course."

"I call bullshit." Ino said as she opened the door. "Naruto killed Orochimaru, and then he killed Sasuke, all you Sound ninja scattered, there hasn't been a Sound village for three years."

The man smiled "That's what you think."

The door opened and Ibiki entered. "You girls are relieved for the night, leave him with me."

Anko frowned "I guess I'll make my way to the Hokage's office, she needs to be here for the rest of this."

Ibiki nodded, "Ino, you can head on home, we are gonna need at least one of our interrogators fully rested, who knows how long it'll take to get him to say everything, and you've already been at him for close on eight hours now."

"Thank you, keep me updated, this is no rogue ninja, I'll make sure a level two alert is issued on my way out."

"Make it a level three, if the Sound village is organized and sending scouts, they must have a large enough force to take military action, every ninja in Konoha is now activated. Dissmissed."

Ino nodded and left; immediately heading to the broadcast room. She grabbed the mic "Attention ninja of Konoha, this is an emergency broadcast. We are now on level three alert, I repeat level three alert. All ninja are now activated, contact your squad leader for your instructions."

She grabbed her jacket and took off to Shikamaru's, he and Temari didn't have an emergency radio. They lived out past the Nara compound in the hills just before the woods began, she had half the city to cross at rush hour, the roofs were the best bet.

* * *

Naruto was doing today's crossword when his radio chirped to life.

/Attention ninja of Konoha, this is an emergency broadcast. We are now on level three alert, I repeat level three alert. All ninja are now activated, contact your squad leader for your instructions./

Naruto dropped his pen and was out the door the exact same second, speeding directly for the Hokage Tower, moving so fast that he was almost invisible to the naked eye. He had to get to Tsunade before she made any decisions.

At least to make sure he got first dibs on the dangerous missions.

It was late afternoon, and the market crowds were in full swing, Naruto jumped syward and resumed his trek by rooftop to avoid any delay the crowds might cause. He sped up; at a good pace, it took a ninja twenty minutes to cross Konoha by rooftop, he only had to cut across one quarter, and was traveling at twice the speed, he estimated three or four minutes would see him briefed on the situation along with the Hokage.

That is, he would have, had he not collided with a purple blur moving in the opposite direction…

"AAAAARGH" he roared as his momentum sent him crashing into the wall of the building he was jumping to.

At the same time a girlish shriek told him that his would be attacker had also collided, but with the building opposite.

A little dazed and slightly concussed, he made his way to the alley below on shaky legs, only to be bludgeoned along with…

"YOU BLOCKHEADED PRICK! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING! JUST FOR THAT I'M GONNA CUT YOUR BALLS OFF AND… oh, hi Naruto."

He rubbed the back of his aching skull "I-Ino?"

She smiled sheepishly "Um, sorry, I've kinda had a hectic day…funny bumping into you twice…uh…."

"I'm sorry, I should have paid more attention to where I was going, I was hoping to catch up to Tsunade and find out what's going on."

Ino snapped back into reality "OH CRAP! Um, just come with me, I'll brief you on the way to Shika's. He and Temari won't know what's happened either, they kind of broke their radio, so they probably don't know what's happening." She took off, heading the opposite direction.

Naruto sighed and took off after her. _Who knew blonds could cause so many headaches._ he thought as he picked up speed. Then a horrible truth dawned on him.

_Shit! I'm blond too…_

* * *

_Well, done… FINALLY. Um, sorry about the wait, but well, fan fiction doesn't pay the bills, or tuition… damn I'm a broke bastard… anyway, this one's just a teeny tiny little bit on the short side, sorry, but don't worry, there will be more, I'm hoping to post at least one more chapter to go with this one, I've struck inspiration and brewed an extra bitter pot of coffee to make sure I stay lucid to write it… Well, hoped you like it, like always any questions or comments, just fire em' my way and I shall respond… If I don't fall into a seventy two hour coma after posting, if I do, blame my family for giving me sooooooo many different types of coffee to choose from.(I couldn't decide which flavor I wanted, so I, uh, kind of brewed a mixture of all of them…. Imagine twenty different little baggies all poured into one big container….why oh why couldn't they have been decaf) well, till next time_

_Give me Decaf, or give me Death!_

_(I for one, choose death…)_

_Peace_


	4. Chapter 4

Five Star Seal: Breaking the Chain That is Love

Chapter Four

_Ah! Welcome to chapter four ladies and gents… well, first off, coffee is not wonderful with cookies either baked or unbaked…sorry, suffering from coffee and cookie dough addiction… it's times like these I wish I hadn't stopped smoking, MOVING ON! Ok now, I don't know what questions you have from the last chapter, so I'll answer some that popped into my mind from the viewpoint of a reader (Yes, I read and reread all of my own chapters before I post)_

_Am I moving too fast already…AGAIN!…. No, It may seem fast, but I promise that the same basic plot and certain scenes will still be there, the restaurant, for example, will still be in the story._

_Did I remake my remade Naruto kinder? Um, no, he just doesn't have a reason to be pissed at the moment_

_Why is Ibiki such a perv… Sorry, not even I can answer that one_

_ON WITH THE SHOW!_

_Started: 1:45 A.M 11/04/2011_

_Finished: 7:04 A.M 01/24/12_

* * *

Naruto sighed and took off after her. _Who knew blonds could cause so many headaches._ he thought as he picked up speed. Then a horrible truth dawned on him.

_Shit! I'm blond too…_

* * *

They kept pace, two blurs streaking across Konoha's rooftops.

"Early this morning, an Anbu patrol came across a rogue ninja moving through our territory, they apprehended him and brought him to the interrogation office." Ino began, "I pulled his file and we discovered that he's an ex-Sound ninja, Anko and I began the interrogation. For the first few hours, we got nothing; he was trained well, finally he started to crack a few hours ago. About ten minutes ago, we got him to spill."

Naruto looked at her quizzically, "What info could an ex-Sound ninja have that would cause a level three alert?"

Ino looked at him, a spark of what seemed to be fear in her eyes "He's not an ex-Sound… the Sound village never disbanded, they pulled their resources back and went so far under the radar that myths have more credibility… they cut off half of their troops, making us believe that the ragtag stragglers we rounded up seemed to be all that remained."

"So we have enjoyed a two year armistice…" Naruto frowned. "If he's telling the truth, that means we're still at war."

"More than that." Ino said "He mentioned that they have a credible leader, and the last two weren't exactly pushovers, plus, he mentioned that he was here on recon, scoping our defenses, and if-"

"If they're scoping our defenses, that means they have a large enough force to begin planning an attack." Naruto finished. "In short, it could be today, or tomorrow, but we can expect some form of attack."

"Yeah." Ino said, she was silent for a few minutes "…I hope this doesn't interfere with our dinner plans."

Naruto gave a hearty chuckle. "I see I can't slip through your fingers easy."

Ino giggled "Nah, beside's, with two hands, I work the shaft so that you definitely don't want it to."

Naruto tripped and went sliding face first for several feet. Ino put on the brakes and helped him up.

"Oh, Naruto! I'm sorry! I've been around Anko all day and-"

"Enough said." He mumbled around a major nosebleed. "I've been in a room with her for five minutes, I can only imagine her form of conversation over a period of several hours."

"So you're ok?"

Yeah, I'm fine…"

"But I really do work it wi-"

"DON'T WE HAVE SOMETHING WE OUGHT TO BE DOING?"

"Right here in public, I knew you were brash, but that's really wild."

"Let's…. Let's just get to Shika's…please?"

"Oh right... OH SHIT!"

Three minutes and a few tissues later found the pair standing on the doorway of Shikamaru Nara's house, which, oddly enough, was a ten minute leisurely walk down the street from Naruto's apartment complexes. Naruto, now a little paler and Ino shifting uneasily, stepped over the threshold and through the door.

* * *

Shikamaru Nara was a peaceful soul, well, peaceful as a ninja of his caliber could be. He didn't have ambition whatsoever, but his natural genius and great talent had earned him the title of Jonin at sixteen, young even for a ninja, he was commanding an Anbu squad a year later, the only other living ninja who had completed more S-rank missions was another member of his graduating class.

He also happened to be standing on his welcome mat.

"Naruto." He said, trying to sound enthusiastic, "What did Ino drag you all this way for? Oh, and you look like you lost a bit of blood, you're kind of pale, care to-"

"The whole city is on a level three alert." Naruto cut him off, a slight red tinge adding color to his face. "as to the blood loss, I'd like to keep that to myself for now."

"She showed you her lecherous side I see, you actually have more color than most of her other 'guests', what's the situation?" he asked, a cigarette still unlit hanging from his mouth.

"Get Temari." Ino said with a glare, "she needs to hear this too, and don't think that I'm gonna ignore what you just said."

"Geez. You women are such a drag, Temari's with Lady Hokage, apparently an important message came for her this morning. She hasn't been back all day."

"Fine, you want the short version or the long one?"

"I'd prefer neither, but I'm gonna get all the details anyway, and I've got nothing better to do… give me the long version." Shikamaru said, lighting his cigarette.

Naruto took this as an invitation to light his own and pulled deeply, exhaling gently, glad for the nicotine. "Ino should be the one to tell you, this whole situation is her fault."

"Hey! It's not my fault! I'm the good guy here!" she growled "Half an hour ago we received information about the Sound village, apparently they didn't scatter after Naruto here killed Sasuke."

Naruto's eye twitched. That was a touchy subject. Shikamaru spared a glance in his direction, Naruto flicked his eyes back to Ino.

Ino continued on, oblivious "This morning Anbu picked up a rogue ninja moving through our territory."

Shikamaru nodded "I was captaining that team, he gave us quite a run, he was almost indiscernible in every aspect, even the Hyuga with us had trouble locating him."

"yeah, well, he's a Sound ninja, sent here as a scout, he was scoping out our defenses."

Shikamaru nearly dropped his cigarette "You mean they already have a large enough force to consider an offensive?"

"Apparently so."

He grabbed his Anbu gear from the couch and suited up "We need to get to Lady Hokage immediately."

Naruto nodded and turned to the door. As he was opening it, Shikamaru's com squawked to life of the coffee table.

/All Jonin rank or higher ninja report to the Hokage Tower immediately, situation escalated to level four, I repeat, situation escalated to level four./

The three ninja in the room shot out of the house running as fast as they could.

Level four meant imminent attack.

* * *

Tsunade rubbed her temples vigorously, this whole mess had given her quite a headache. The news she had received this morning, and the news her interrogation team had extracted earlier , painted a picture that promised many more in the days to come.

If front of her were the fifty-two active Jonin that composed the heart of Konoha's ninja force, as well as the thirty Anbu operatives.

"We have a situation that borders on a cataclysmic scale today." she began "Early this morning, our Anbu apprehended a ninja passing extremely close to the city, we have learned from this ninja by means of interrogation, that the Sound village is still operating towards the destruction of Konoha and her allies."

She paused for a moment to observe her ninja. All were suddenly alert, hands instinctively moving closer to their weapons of choice.

She continued "This news is of the greatest importance. This ninja was here to scout our defenses, so we can surmise that our enemy has bolstered his forces enough to begin planning an attack upon our great city." she took a breath "We have also received a messenger bird from the Sand village that the Sound village has already struck a blow. Their northern outpost was razed yesterday morning by a large force of Sound ninja. There was only one survivor, the Kazekage's brother…. Temari has already taken her team to our embassy in Suna to provide whatever aid Konoha can give. Meanwhile, it is up to you, the most elite of Leaf ninja, to secure the safety of Konohagakure. I will keep all ninja under wartime shifts of twelve hours, half of you are active starting now, each Jonin will be assigned twelve Chunin as well as the Genin team you may or may not be teaching. Our city numbers over twenty thousand non combatants, their safety lies in your hands, Shizune will give you your orders if you have any, dismissed."

"What of the Anbu, Lady Hokage?" Shikamaru asked from behind his mask.

"I want triple shifts on the outer perimeter, if so much as a bear scratches his ass five miles from our walls, I want to know about it Captain. You have full access to any resource you need. If any Sound ninja is sighted, you have a go for deadly force."

"Yes my Lady." He bowed, and then a swirl of leaves and her room was completely empty…

* * *

"Lady Hokage, my skills will most definitely be required."

She sighed and turned her attention to the tall man still standing to the left of her desk. "Yes, Naruto, I will need your skills, an assassination will be the quickest way to deal with this threat. When we have enough information, I will send you to infiltrate the Sound village and assassinate their leader. We can ill afford another war."

"Infiltration isn't my forte, Lady Hokage, why not allow me the opportunity to rid Konoha of it's most hated enemy for good?"

"You are a valuable asset to me Naruto, you have proven you are able to take on several ninja and live, but an entire village would spell your doom. You will have a teammate to help get you into the village, I want you to ensure that the two of you make it out alive. You are dismissed." She turned away, a clear indication that she would not change her orders.

"yes, my Lady." he said and left the room.

Jiraiya slid open the window and stepped inside. "He's still as bloodthirsty as ever, I see."

Tsunade sighed "Yes, but he seemed more cheerful, considering what happened this morning."

"I believe that his original personality was subdued during the sealing, but not destroyed, over the past two years, he has shown more of his original self every time he breaks a seal. With four now broken, he's almost reverted back to the boy that convinced you to take this job." Jiraiya stated as he chose a comfortable chair by her desk.

"Let's hope that fifth seal holds, or we might also have to contend with the Kyuubi."

"I don't believe the Kyuubi was or ever will be a threat to Konoha as long as Naruto is alive." Jiraiya said

"He lost control, and one of my best Anbu operatives died. I see that as a threat."

"Yes, but where were the marks of his transformation?"

"The Kyuubi must have healed them."

"But left the deep, life threatening lacerations in his wrists… I have thought on the situation for a long time, and things just aren't adding up."

Tsunade sighed "I know, but it's not like we can change it now… And right now, the fate of any one man is insignificant compared to the fate of the village."

"I just hope that that one man can accomplish the task you set him to do." Jiraiya replied.

"I've sent him on missions with a lower survival probability."

Yeah, but has he had to worry about keeping someone else alive too?"

* * *

Ino was off duty these first twelve hours, so she waited in the tower lobby for Naruto, as he had opted to stay and talk with Tsunade after she had dismissed everyone. _Well _she thought_ It pays to be the most powerful ninja in the village, you can talk to who you want to, when you want to._ She sat in one of the comfy armchairs and twiddled her thumbs, hoping he was off duty so he wouldn't be able to cancel their plans.

She sighed, _and tonight was going to be such a great distraction too…_

"You're off duty too, I take it?" said a masculine voice in her ear, his breath sending electricity down her spine. "Think about it, all the fun you can have in twelve. _Long. _Hours." the last word spoken directly into her ear, igniting a fire inside of her; teeth grazed against her earlobe and she jumped with a squeak and turned to glare at a laughing Naruto.

"Wha-what was that all about?" she said quivering.

"It's so unfair when someone does that, isn't it…hey, what time is it?"

Ino checked her watch "It's five, why?"

Naruto gave her a sly grin "Cuz I got plans with this cute little blond at five, know where I can find her?"

Ino blushed. "Do you cause a scene everywhere you go?"

Naruto grinned "I'm big, I'm handsome, and bad guys usually leave town when I show up, I can't help it if women stare.

Ino's head automatically glared at every other woman in the room. "Come on." she grumbled, dragging him out of the building, "You're gonna pay for that little ear thing after dinner."

"I thought I was paying for the dinner?"

"You are."

"Then why are YOU leading the way?"

"…shit…"

* * *

Ino stared; sure, she was blond, and it usually took a moment for her to catch on, but the open-mouthed, dumbfounded stare that graced her figure at the spectacle in front of her was not her usual method of understanding.

It was…revolting, but so bad that it was funny.

An enormously fat toad was sitting at a table in front of the restaurant, munching down on veggie foods at an unbelievable rate.

"Naruto?" Ino said as she pried her eyes away from the spectacle that had half of the street laughing, including her date. "Wha-what's _that_?"

"I forgot who's turn it was today." he said, wheezing "Every day we summon a toad to sit and eat all they want. The others deem it fit to only eat three meals and spend the rest of the time giving the dishes out as samples…but, oh Hahahahaha it seems it was Gamatatsu's turn!" and he fell into another bought of laughter.

"Does he ever stop?" she asked.

Naruto stopped laughing for a moment. "To be honest, I don't know, Gamakichi would be able to answer that one."

"Gama-huh?"

"Oh, he's my summon partner." Naruto explained, " When a ninja signs a summoning contract, they usually are paired with one particular individual, Gamakichi has been with me since the Chunin Exams way back when. Gamatatsu is his brother, and old man Gamabunta is the boss toad, the most powerful of the ninja toads, Gamakichi will replace him when the old man steps down."

"Is Gamakichi this bad?" She asked.

"Nah," Naruto replied "He's big, but not like that, he's about the size of a minivan right now, but one day, he'll be bigger than the Hokage Tower. I think Gamatatsu takes after his uncle Gamaken, he's enormous, we use him for our 'bring down the house' jutsu."

"Your what?"

Naruto laughed "You'll see, one of these days."

Ino smiled "It's got a funny name, I'm not sure I want to."

"Let's just get inside and eat, for starters." Naruto said, grabbing Ino's hand and pulling her into the restaurant. Immediately a short, robust man walked over to them, a large smile adorning his face.

"Welcome to Mt. Mbyouku Steakhouse, where you can dine on the finest Cajun and Continental recipes in the Five Nations."

"Hello Hanzo, a table for two tonight, in the private section please." Naruto said warmly as he gave the short man a friendly smile.

Hanzo bowed "Of course Master Uzumaki, I'll have it prepared right away."

"Make sure there is a bottle of your finest wine on ice too, along with the VIP meal."

"Yes, of course, Master Uzumaki, is there anything else I can do?"

Naruto smiled again, "That takes care of everything. Oh, yeah, there is this though, don't rush our order too fast," he wrapped an arm around Ino, who turned beet red "I really would like to keep her attention on me and not all that good food for as long as possible."

"Of course Master Uzumaki."

They were led to a table off to the side, a large and richly furnished one, with a few bottles of really expensive wine in an intricately shaped, finely etched wine bucket that seemed to be pure silver. The two were seated and served a glass of wine, and then left to their own conversation.

"So Naruto," Ino began, "you like royalty or something?" She gave him a teasing grin, he smirked.

"Technically, on Mt. Mbyouku, I am, since there are only two living humans able to summon the Toads, me being one of them.

Ino made a face. "King of the froggy's huh?" she snorted.

Naruto chuckled. "Ha ha, I helped master Jiraya start this place. I saved up about a year's worth of A-rank missions and bought the premises and renovated the building."

"So you own the place? Dang, rolling in the dough over there aren't ya?" she asked, sipping her wine.

"I'm comfortable, I keep a decent amount in my account, buy my crossword books, stock my park, all the rest of it I donate to the Academy." he said.

"Wow, go Naruto!" Ino said. She knew from when they were younger that he never really ever spent money on anything other than ramen, so he must be the reason the Academy was getting all those expensive renovations. "Looking out for the kids, that's sweet of you."

He smiled a genuine smile, _If only you knew what I can turn into,_ he thought to himself. Out loud, he said "So, Ino, I've been out of the loop for a long time, how about filling me in?"

Ino blushed a little bit. "To tell you the truth Naruto, I have been too, all the info I got is on Shika and Temari, and let me tell you, you don't want to go down that road." Ino shivered.

Naruto chuckled and took another drink. "So, you took up interrogation?"

Ino nodded, "After you took off to fight the Akatsuki, Ibiki and Anko asked me to join the squad, I gave it a try, and had quite a knack for it, so I let Ibiki train me." she said. "Tell me, what've you gotten up to the past years.?"

Naruto took another drink. "I've been underground, in a huge laboratory, where I concoct evil experiments, with a massive force of mole-men armed with bo staffs ready to take over the world!" he smirked and wagged his eyebrows.

Ino erupted into giggles mid swig, chocking on the wine, Naruto stifled a chuckle.

"Not funny asshole." Ino growled, the childish grin on her face assuring him it was.

"I got a kick out of it." he said with a cocky smirk.

Everyone in ten feet heard an audible thunk from the vicinity of under their table. Naruto thought he heard a snap too. Naruto reached down and rubbed his poor, poor injured shin.

"Now you have." Ino said innocently.

Naruto's eyes narrowed mischievously, but before he could speak, two huge plates were set in front of them, each with an enormous steak and a baked potato.

Ino's eyes widened "Now I know why they ask 'Where's the beef?', you took it all to make these steaks."

Naruto chuckled again. "Yeah, it was a pain in the ass finding a dress that would fit me, and that red wig was atrocious."

Ino snorted into a big bite of potato. Thumping her chest so she could get some air, she glared daggers at the man across the table from her, innocently cutting off a chunk of his steak. "Do you have to keep doing that when I have something in my mouth." she grumbled, grabbing her glass.

She had just tipped her glass back when he chose to reply. "Depends on what's in your mouth."

She spluttered.

They sat and joked for a little while, enjoying their meal slowly to enjoy the other's conversation. Finally Ino decided to turn Naruto's question against him.

"So Naruto," she began, "you know what I've been up to for the past few years, but what about you? I've had some foreign bingo books pass over my desk and all of them have you pretty high up on the list. 'flee if sighted' or 'do not engage' makes for one hell of a story."

Naruto took a sip of his wine. "Well, I did put the Kusanagi through Orochimaru, I did kill quite a few of the Akatsuki, I'm a Jinchurikki for the Kyuubi no Youko and I also put Sasuke down as well. I guess I do have a bit of notoriety."

Ino was quiet for a moment. "I never did say thank you for killing that bastard."

Naruto's eyes clouded over. "He killed so many of our friends… but sometime I wish I could've saved him."

Ino reached across the table and put her hand on Naruto's. "The man didn't want to be saved. The Sasuke we knew died a long time ago, back when we were all genin."

He smiled at her, and they finished their meal in a relatively comfortable silence. When they were getting ready to leave, Naruto turned to Ino.

"You wanna get something a little stronger than wine? I have some stuff at my house that I imported from outside the Five Nations."

Ino perked up at the mention of better alcohol. "Sure! I'd love to."

Naruto smiled. "You can crash at my place too. I'll take the couch, it's quite comfy."

She giggled and they made their way to Naruto's home.

* * *

She looked around his living room. No pictures, no decorations, bare walls, bare floor…

This place needed a woman's touch.

She heard movement in the kitchen and Naruto appeared with two bottles of vibrantly green liquid. She gave him a questioning glance and he smiled as he handed her a bottle.

"They call this stuff Absinthe." he said, opening his and taking a swig. He made a face as it burned down his throat, but almost immediately he felt his head go numb and sat down in his chair to nurse the bottle. "I got it from a merchant who leaves the Five Nations about once a year. It's strong stuff."

Ino smirked "I'll be the judge of that." she said, opening her own bottle.

He sighed "Don't let it touch your tongue."

She took a deep swig and it burned all the way down. She suddenly found it hard to stand, so she shakily made her way to the couch and sat down. "It works." she said, taking another swig.

"I'm going to have to hold your hair back aren't I?" Naruto said, a resigned expression adorning his face.

She smiled, "Depends, how many more of these ya got?"

He chuckled and took a swig. "Enough to knock out this village's ninja population." he said, "But you only get that bottle, this stuff isn't gentle, and there's enough alcohol in that bottle to run a generator for a good forty-eight hours."

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I've had this stuff for a while now…. About a year and a half. Sake wasn't strong enough to block out the nightmares, so I found something stronger."

"How much stronger?" she asked, her vision a little blurry, she took another swig.

"Five or six times stronger I'd say, compared to this, whiskey is water." Naruto said, bringing his own bottle to his lips.

She whistled, or tried to, she was already feeling it, "Damn, some potent shit."

"Yeah, I give it about five minutes." he said.

"Five minutes until what?" she asked.

"Until you're sleeping like a baby."

"Ha ha, yeah right."

She was out in three.

* * *

This was the second time she'd woken up to a room she'd never seen before. She turned her head to survey her surroundings, her head pulsing painfully. The events of last night came back to her in a rush and she realized she must be in Naruto's room. She blushed and quickly took stock of herself. She was still in her clothes, so the two hadn't done anything wild the night before. She smiled, at least he let her have the bed.

Sounds of frying bacon and the smell of other delicious breakfast edibles beckoned her. She got up and walked into the living room and turned to look across the bar at her friend as he cooked their morning meal.

_He's even making breakfast_, she thought with a smile, _oh, he is SO totally a keeper._

"Morning beautiful," he said as he turned around with her plate; piled with bacon and eggs and huge pancakes. "we got about an hour for our shift so eat up."

"Don't mind if I do." she said as she dived into the plate with gusto.

The two exchanged a bit of small talk over breakfast, and were just getting ready to leave his apartment when an Anbu operative slipped in through the living room window.

"What do you need Anbu-san?" Naruto asked.

The Anbu chuckled and pulled off his mask, revealing Shikamaru. "I've come to tell you the Hokage has requested your presence immediately. Yours too Ino. Apparently you guys are going on a mission."

The two ninja smiled and gave him their thanks. He nodded and left as quickly and quietly as he came. The two grabbed their gear and shot off towards the Hokage tower as fast as their legs could take them. A mission when the city was in a level four alert meant that whatever they were about to do could make or break the village.

Naruto had an idea of the mission parameters, but he was cursing Tsunade for picking Ino to be his partner, he actually liked this girl…

Wait… did he just admit that he liked her?

* * *

_ANOTHER ONE DOWN! My absence is inexcusable, I know, so just beat me up about it, hope you enjoyed the chapter…peace. _


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